The Day The Mask Slipped Off The American News Media

By: Jeff Katz – February, 2011

The last few weeks have provided an interesting look into the minds of many Americans. Start with the shooting of Arizona Congressman Gabby Giffords. The charges and accusations have flown hot and heavy and what has been a rather conspicuous casualty in all of this has been the truth.

Almost immediately after Giffords was shot, the publisher of the Daily Kos put out a twitter message which read “Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin.” There was no indication that the shooter had any connection to the former Alaska Governor but of course that simply did not matter. Kos’s tweet was followed by a tweet from Jane Fonda who blamed Sarah Palin and then blamed Glenn Beck, apparently just for good measure. The problem with that was there was no connection to Beck. As the weekend progressed blame was also laid at the feet of Tea Party members, Republicans, Conservatives, FOX News and talk radio hosts. By the end of the weekend, the left wing Sheriff of Pima County where the shootings took place announced that it was all Rush Limbaugh’s fault. Strangely, none of these left wing voices ever blamed the shootings on the shooter.

How could the chief law enforcement officer, the man charged with investigating the murder, put forward such a thoroughly insane theory, and then expect that anyone would trust him to conduct a professional investigation? Once the crackpot cop’s rantings had been released, all manner of left wing activists came running out to blame talk radio, and of course the gun. Once again, none of these hot air machines ever bothered to allege that the shooter was responsible for the shootings.

What we are seeing is a prime example of mob mentality combining with the instructions of President Barack Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel to never let a crisis go to waste. And so, as decent people are praying for the full and speedy recovery of those injured and also asking that those murdered, including a nine year old, be remembered the left is in full attack mode.

The man who brought you the Tawana Brawley hoax Al Sharpton is leading the charge to silence Rush Limbaugh. He is joined by members of Congress demanding that guns be banned and that access to the internet be restricted. None of these draconian measures have anything to do with what really happened though. The shooter was by all accounts a deranged individual who maintained an altar in his backyard which contained a human skull. He loved The Communist Manifesto and Mein Kamp, two books that are among the most uber-leftist publications of all time. But I don’t believe that he was someone acting on behalf of super secret left wing messages. I think he is a demented murderer who could just as easily thought he was getting messages from his Rice Krispies. Snap. Crackle. Pop.

We will need to stand up against the efforts to silence talk radio, seize guns and shutter the internet. Above all, we should remember the words of President Ronald Reagan who said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”

Jeff Katz is a former police officer, former talk show host on Talk1200AM and won the Associated Press Award for Best Talk Show In Boston two years in a row. He is now an exclusive columnist for The Valley Patriot. You can email him at jeffkatzshow@aol.com